Free Heart Of Marley by T.K. Leigh Page A

It’s rude to ask a lady about her ex-boyfriend when she’s in the presence of the new man in her life.”
    “It’s okay,” Brianna interrupted. “I’m sure I’ll be getting that a lot once school begins. We dated for nearly two years so it’s definitely been the break-up of the year.”
    “When did y’all end it?” I asked, trying to hide my unease.
    “After Fourth of July. You guys weren’t around much because of your grams so you were out of the loop. Long story short, he’s not the same Mason I knew from first grade. It was more of a relationship out of obligation anyway, considering his mom’s best friends with my mom so she kind of forced me to date him. Every time I mentioned breaking it off, she would get all short with me and blame me for trying to sabotage her friendship. Sometimes I wonder who the adult is in our house.”
    I grabbed her hand and her solemn expression was replaced with one of joy and hope.
    “Well,” Marley’s boisterous voice broke through the tense atmosphere. “Look at us! Does this count as a double date?” She turned to Doug, his eyes wide at her mention of the word “date”. “I mean, it would have to count as a date first, I guess. I mean, if you’d want to date. I mean…” She took a deep breath. “Are we dating, Doug? I don’t want you to think that we have to date just because we finally kissed.”
    He smiled at Marley and I could see the overwhelming affection he had for her. Given her past, I grew nervous at the prospect of her dating anyone, but I knew Doug better than any other guy with whom I went to school. He was the only one I knew who would treat Marley the way she deserved to be treated.
    “I’d like to think so,” he said. “I mean, that is if you want to date me. I don’t want to say we’re dating if you’re not dating me, but I’d like to think that I’m dating you.”
    “Okay.” Marley nodded. “You can date me. I approve. Because I am so dating your ass.” She giggled.
    “Please don’t seal the deal in front of me,” I interrupted, not wanting to watch my best friend and my sister kiss right before our lunch arrived. There were some things I’d rather not see.
    He winked at Marley. “I’ll get you later, Marley Jane.” Leaning over, he whispered something in her ear and a grin crawled across her face, making her entire being glow.
    I raised my eyebrows at her and she blushed. This was the Marley I knew from all those years ago. Whenever she shut down or had an “episode”, as my aunt referred to them, I would take her far away from everything. I’d help her forget about the expectations placed on her shoulders and the old Marley would come out of the shell she had been forced to live in for the past six years. Barely anyone knew the real Marley. Doug saw her on occasion, and so did a few of her close friends from school. I should have counted myself as lucky for being able to spend time with the real Marley because she began to slip farther and farther away over the months to come.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~

    “Y OU REALLY LOVE YOUR sister, don’t you?” Brianna asked, clutching on to my hand as we maneuvered our way through the crowds of people in the central market that spanned several city blocks, stopping at nearly every table for Marley to ooh and ah over different pieces of jewelry and homemade trinkets.
    “Of course I do.”
    “I think it’s cute how well you get along.”
    I shrugged. “We’ve been through everything together,” I explained, my voice pensive.
    “So…” she said, slightly hesitant. “What’s the real story?”
    I glanced at her, wanting further explanation.
    “I mean, I’ve heard the rumors. We don’t hear them as much as we did when you and Marley first arrived in our sleepy little beach community in sixth grade, but I still hear them once in a while.”
    “What do they say?” I knew it shouldn’t surprise me that people talked about why there was a court order requiring us to live with our